The quintessential example of the model Watcher, Rupert Giles was assigned by the Council of Watchers to guide the Slayer, Buffy Anne Summers, after her first Watcher was killed in Los Angeles. Their first meeting in the Sunnydale High School library was anything but warm, as Buffy rebelled against her calling and the stuffy Brit in tweed trying to tell her what to do with her life. It took some time for the proverbial ice to thaw, as they started their uneasy alliance with neither understanding one another very well. Confused by Buffy's unorthodox methods that were in direct conflict with his Council training, Giles was soon won over by Buffy's bravery, humor, ingenuity and skill as The Chosen One. Over seven years together, fighting countless vampires, demons and annual apocalypses, Giles and Buffy evolved from wary strangers to allies and eventually, as close as any father and daughter would be.

In his role as Watcher, Giles was a superb historian of all things occult and mystical. As a dabbler of the dark arts in his own rebellious youth, Giles first became acquainted with the boundaries of evil earning the nickname "Ripper." Reformed by his experiences, Giles then strode the straight and narrow, but in his place at Buffy's side on the Hellmouth, the Watcher learned the true depth and breadth of sacrifice to his job as he suffered heartbreaking loss when his true love and fellow teacher, Jenny Calendar, was killed by Angelus. It was a blow that re-dedicated his focus to his Slayer and the life and death commitment to thwarting evil. Over the years, Giles was always the knowledge source for the latest Big Bad and while his nose was often buried in a book, the man was also as brave as his Slayer, never thinking twice about getting into the thick of the fight as he was beaten, tortured, possessed and cursed in the line of duty. Yet he never wavered in his belief of his Slayer or the importance of their mission to stop the forces of evil from destroying the world time and time again.